Painting Wooden Canopy Interior

[Phred]

Re-establishing my older aquarium.  A couple of decades ago, I stained the wood and sealed it with polyurethane.  The exterior still looks great, but the interior ceiling has some water damage where the lamination bubbled up in places.  I've cut out the bad, and I plan on painting the ceiling with white Rust-oleum to cover the damage - and for reflective purposes.  I will then seal it again with polyurethane - while touching up the rest of the hood.

My question is whether it would be safer to use oil-based or water-based paint and sealer?  I tried a Google search, and there seems to be a lot of conflicting information on what types of paint to use around an aquarium.

 

 

[StephenP2003]

Both are fine once fully cured. Long-term, the oil-based will last longer (no idea how much longer in this particular environment where it's exposed to more moisture). With oil, the cure time will be a lot longer, and the smell will linger for longer. 

[Brandy]

2 hours ago, Phred said:

 I stained the wood and sealed it with polyurethane. 

My question is whether it would be safer to use oil-based or water-based paint and sealer?  

 

 

You probably want to use the version of paint that matches what you used before. If you used oil based poly and stain, water based paint wont always stick or cure properly. Oil will take longer to cure fully--a LOT longer and I would wait it out to the bitter end so that there is no chance of off gassing VOC building up under the hood. But once fully cured oil will be more durable.